Andrew de Burgh

Andrew de Burgh
Born
Andrew de Burgh Sidley

(1990-06-16) 16 June 1990 (age 34)
Shrewsbury, Shropshire, United Kingdom
Alma materPepperdine University (BA)
Occupations
  • Film director
  • screenwriter
  • producer
Years active2015–present

Andrew de Burgh (born 16 June 1990) is a British filmmaker. He began his career with the psychological thriller short film Just One Drink (2015), which scored a 100% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. Starring Barbara Nedeljakova, the film was released as an Editor's Pick by ShortsTV, the distributor behind each year's Academy Award Nominated Short Films.[1]

After founding the production company Sacred Ember Films, he made his feature filmmaking debut with the science fiction film The Bestowal (2019), which premiered at MegaCon and was released on Amazon Prime Video, Tubi, Google Play and YouTube Movies by Indie Rights.

His second feature film as writer-director, the horror thriller film The Seductress from Hell (2024), which stars Jason Faunt, James Hyde and Andrew Lauer had it's World Premiere at the Glendale International Film Festival and it's Los Angeles premiere at the Micheaux Film Festival.[2]

Early life

de Burgh was born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire to a English father and an Indian mother. Growing up in Berkshire, England, he attended Lambrook. Fascinated with movies from a young age, early favorites of his included Home Alone, The Snowman, Toy Story, Small Soldiers and Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. When he was eleven years old, his family moved to Bangalore, India where he attended The International School Bangalore.

In 2004, his family moved to Dubai where he studied at Dubai American Academy. As a teenager, he developed a strong interest in American action and thriller movies including Con Air, Fatal Attraction, Minority Report, Heat and Training Day. After his family settled in California in 2006, he finished high school at St. Margaret's Episcopal School in San Juan Capistrano, Orange County. He attended Pepperdine University in Malibu, where he double majored in Film Studies and Advertising. While in college, he wrote, produced, directed and acted in numerous student films.[3]

Career

In 2015, de Burgh wrote, produced and directed the psychological thriller short film Just One Drink. Telling the story of a mysterious woman (Barbara Nedeljakova) who uses Facebook to lure two young men to her apartment for a New Year's Eve party, the film premiered at the Chinese American Film Festival. In his review of the film, Cinema Crazed critic Felix Vasquez said of de Burgh, "if Just One Drink is anything to go by, he has potential to create a cinematic masterpiece".[4] In 2016, he played series regular Sean Mercer in season five of the Daytime Emmy nominated web series Youthful Daze alongside Chrishell Stause, Melissa Archer, Bryan Dattilo, Sarah Joy Brown, Eden Riegel and Sean Kanan.[5]

In 2017, he wrote, produced and directed the short silent film The Twisted Doll which premiered at the Polish Film Festival Los Angeles. In the same year, he wrote and directed the virtual reality horror short film Queen of Hearts starring Christina Calph of the films Arthur and Tower Heist.

After founding the production company Sacred Ember Films,[6] he wrote, produced and directed the science fiction film The Bestowal (2019) which had it's World Premiere at MegaCon and also screened at the Dhaka International Film Festival, the Hoboken International Film Festival and the Lake City International Film Festival (where he won the festival's Best Director award). The film tells the story of a suicidal businessman (Sam Brittan) who is visited by an inter-dimensional being appearing in the form of a beautiful woman (Sharmita Bhattacharya). Drawing comparisons to Interstellar,[7] the film scored an approval rating of 78% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 9 reviews.[8] Starburst critic Ryan Pollard called it "unique, challenging and thought-provoking".[9] It was released on Amazon Prime Video, Tubi, Google Play and YouTube Movies by Indie Rights in November 2019.[10]

In 2021, de Burgh co-produced and directed the animated short film The Legend of Santa which premiered at the BAFTA qualifying film festival DokuFest. Based on the children's book A Magical Christmas Adventure by British author Daniel Colyer, the film tells an origin story of Santa Claus that combines historical fiction and fantasy elements. In his review of the movie, Film Threat critic Bobby LePire said of it, "the film's world is inviting and feels truly magical".[11]

Season One of his debut TV series as creator and writer-director, the crime thriller The Twisted Doll premiered on October 31, 2024, on ZEE5 and Cpics. Executive produced by Kavi Raz, the show tells the story of a young Indian woman who embarks on a revenge mission in Los Angeles after her and her husband are scammed by two real estate agents. Starring Summer Singh, Xander Bailey, Bree Mignano, Felix Merback and Andrew Ghai in the lead roles, it also features guest appearances from Will Roberts of Oppenheimer, Chelsea Gilson of Hawaii Five-0 and social media influencer Carrington Durham.[12]

His second feature film, The Seductress from Hell (2024), which stars Jason Faunt,[13] James Hyde, Andrew Lauer, Rocio Scotto and Raj Jawa had its World Premiere at the 2024 Glendale International Film Festival and its Los Angeles premiere at the Micheaux Film Festival where de Burgh was nominated for the festival's Outstanding Directing for a Feature Award. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film scored an approval rating of 50%, based on 6 reviews.[14] In his review of the film, Film Threat critic Terry Sherwood gave it a score of 7 out of 10, stating that it's "quirky enough to fit next to the more extreme Asian and European offerings".[15] Douglas Davidson of Elements of Madness gave it a 2.5 out of 5, calling it "a surface-level depiction of various tropes gathered together to excuse the bloodletting".[16]

Filmography

Feature films

Television

  • The Twisted Doll (2024)

Short films

References

  1. ^ Friar, AJ (24 April 2024). "Behind the career of Hollywood filmmaker Andrew de Burgh". Infamous Horror.
  2. ^ Ntim, Zac (17 September 2024). "2024 Micheaux Film Festival Lineup". Deadline.
  3. ^ Morazzini, Jim (10 June 2024). "An Insight into Andrew de Burgh's filmmaking journey". Voices From The Balcony.
  4. ^ Vasquez, Felix (25 February 2016). "Just One Drink Short Film Review". Cinema Crazed.
  5. ^ Chukwuemeka, Chijioke (30 March 2016). "Youthful Daze Exclusive Interview: Andrew de Burgh Discusses Role Of Sean Mercer, Dishes On New Movie 'Just One Drink'". Soap Opera Spy.
  6. ^ Garcia, Melissa (9 April 2019). "Introducing Sacred Ember Films, a production company founded by filmmaker Andrew de Burgh". Voyage LA Magazine.
  7. ^ Goodyear, Mark (4 September 2019). "The Bestowal Review". Battle Royale with Cheese.
  8. ^ "The Bestowal on Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes.
  9. ^ Pollard, Ryan (28 August 2018). "The Bestowal Review: An equally brilliant and frustrating debut feature from Andrew de Burgh". Starburst Magazine.
  10. ^ Chopra, Ananya (1 June 2021). "Andrew de Burgh: Inspirations behind The Bestowal". No Film School Magazine.
  11. ^ LePire, Bobby (20 May 2021). "The Legend of Santa Review". Film Threat.
  12. ^ Armstrong, Kristen (8 December 2024). "Meet Andrew de Burgh". Canvas Rebel.
  13. ^ Asankomah, Tony (12 January 2024). "Behind the scenes of "The Seductress from Hell" - A chat with writer-director Andrew de Burgh". GH MovieFreak.
  14. ^ "The Seductress from Hell on Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes.
  15. ^ Sherwood, Terry (13 May 2024). "The Seductress from Hell Review". Film Threat.
  16. ^ Davidson, Douglas (12 September 2024). "The Seductress from Hell Review". Elements of Madness.